RANCHO CUCAMONGA — It seemed rather appropriate that a ceremony was held Wednesday at the Senior Center focusing on a program to honor the “Greatest Generation” and the end of World War II.

The ceremony came only a day before Thursday’s 69th anniversary of D-Day, the massive invasion of Europe by that generation which led to the eventual victory in both Europe and the Pacific.

The ceremony at the Freedom Courtyard was for a program attempting to capture photos and recollections of those who fought in the war or were part of the Homefront.

The Spirit of ’45 is a group interviewing World War II veterans as well as civilians on their experiences during the war years. It’s part of a movement to recognize the second Sunday of August as the Spirit of ’45 Day, a holiday marking the formal end of fighting in the war, explained spokesman Robert Corpus.

One of the veterans who offered his story on Wednesday was Lloyd Michael, the 89-year-old former director of the Cucamonga Valley Water District and father of Rancho Cucamonga Mayor L. Dennis Michael.

Lloyd Michael was one of the support group that landed after the main invasion in Normandy. His unit — which recovered and repaired downed aircraft for the Army Air Corps — landed in northern France 11 days after the invasion and spent the rest of the war in Europe.

Lloyd and wife Mirian Michael on Wednesday planned to tell their own personal story of how a trunk with their love letters written during the war was stolen from them in the 1960s and how, earlier this year, the letters were found and returned to the couple.

They were also chosen to unveil a special statue based on the famed photograph in Times Square of a sailor kissing a nurse the day the war ended, Aug. 14, 1945.

Corpus travels with the life-sized statue, allowing veterans and young people alike to be photographed in front of it. It is a replica of the much larger statue by Seward Johnson, copies of which are in several places through the nation including San Diego.

Corpus and supporters have been touring the Southwest for several years, sponsored by U-Haul International and the Sculpture Foundation. The statue spent time recently exhibited on the USS Iowa in San Pedro, and this week he has already presented his program in Apple Valley and Corona before Rancho Cucamonga.

“There is not a day recognizing World War II generations,” said Corpus, of the movement to create the holiday that began in his hometown of San Jose.

“We want a day to recognize everybody, from the men on the front to the people back home supporting the troops. Even the welders or the seamstresses or even the kids who went around and collected foil or grease for the war effort. We want to recognize the generation as a whole.”

And, as members of that generation are dying as a rapid rate, it is important to get their stories collected, he said. He also urged the city to collect the photos of those who served and especially those who lost their lives in the war.